Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is an approach to scientific investigation that calls for the community - comprised of the subjects of research - to be involved in every phase of the research project. This means that community representatives identify the community's most important health problems as the focus of the study, partner with the academic research team in choosing the research question and method, participate in conducting the study, and help interpret and disseminate the results. The Research Core of the proposed CEHD will identify better approaches to addressing specific health problems and risk factors leading to health disparities affecting African Americans in Atlanta. The Community Engagement Core will attack the, problem of health disparities from a broader perspective: by developing community capacity to participate in health care and to better utilize the health care system, we are helping to lay the foundation for addressing the broad spectrum of health disparities. Hence, the overriding Goal of this core is: To build the capacity of partner communities to reduce racial and ethnic health disparities through systematic engagement in the planning, implementation and evaluation of community-based participatory research, health priority assessment, capacity building, and connecting families to medical homes.